Method of brewing a beverage with an electric, automatic beverage maker

ABSTRACT

A method of brewing a beverage, such as freshly brewed coffee, in an electrical, automatic beverage brewer ( 10 ) with a rotatable mixing chamber ( 12 ) for mixing water ( 109 ) from a hot water tank ( 28 ) with dry beverage ingredient ( 108 ) having a closed top ( 7 ) and an open bottom ( 3, 66 ) to which is releasably mounted a brew basket ( 14 ) with an open top ( 19 ) for fluid communication with the mixing chamber ( 12 ) through the open bottom ( 3, 66 ). Before mounting, the brew basket ( 14 ) is loaded with a filter ( 105 ) and dry beverage ingredient ( 109 ). The mixing chamber ( 12 ) with the brew basket ( 14 ) attached is then automatically turned upside down (FIG.  6 ) to dump the dry beverage ingredient ( 109 ) out of the filter ( 105 ) and onto the closed top ( 7 ) of the rotatable mixing chamber ( 12 ). A preselected amount of water ( 109 ) is then infused into the mixing chamber ( 12 ) to a level beneath the open bottom ( 3 ) and filter ( 105 ) and onto the dry beverage ingredient ( 109 ) for mixing therewith. After a preselected mixing time period is passed the mixing chamber ( 12 ) and mounted brew basket ( 14 ) is automatically turned right side up to pass the beverage ( 110 ) through the filter ( 105 ) and out of the drain hole ( 90 ) of the brew basket ( 14 ). After the mixing chamber ( 12 ) has been returned to an upright position, pressurized air ( 44, 46 , and  48 ) is automatically injected into the mixing chamber ( 12 ) to hasten the passage of beverage ( 110 ) through the filter ( 105 ) and out of the drain hole ( 90 ).

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) ofprovisional patent application Ser. No. 61/055,797 filed May 23, 2008,which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to an electrical, automatic coffeemaker and, more particularly, to a commercial electrical coffee makercapable of making large quantities of freshly brewed coffee in a singlebatch and passing the coffee directly to an insulated dispenserespecially adapted to fit with the brewer for direct receipt of thecoffee from the brewer.

Discussion of the Prior Art

There are many ways to make freshly brewed coffee. There are infusioncoffee makers for making espresso coffee; there are drip-type coffeemakers; there are percolator-type coffee makers; there are French presscoffee makers and other types of coffee makers. It is widely believed bythose skilled in the art of fresh coffee brewing that the French presscoffee makers are the ones most capable of producing the best, mostflavorable and aromatic coffee. This is believed true because with aFrench press coffee maker it is possible to accurately control theprocess to obtain uniform extraction of the essential oils and othercomponents of the ground coffee into the hot water with which it ismixed.

In a French press coffee maker, fresh dry coffee grounds are placed in acontainer and then all the hot water that will be used to make thedesired quantity of coffee is quickly added to the grounds to quicklymix with all the coffee grounds. The mixture is allowed to seep for apreselected, relatively short period of time with statically or whilestirring. Then the remaining solids are quickly removed from the liquidto obtain uniform extraction associated with a high quality brew. At theend of the mixing, or seeping, time period a piston is quickly plungedinto the container to rapidly separate the liquid coffee beverage fromthe solid materials of the remaining coffee grounds to quickly stopfurther extraction. In this way it is possible to avoid bothunder-extraction and over-extraction, both of which are associated withless than optimum quality.

In other coffee makers, such as a drip type coffee maker, in which hotwater is deposited onto the top of a layer of coffee grounds containedin a porous filter, the level of extraction is a combination ofover-extraction which occurs at the beginning of the brew cycle when thehot water is first added to the dry coffee grounds followed by underextraction which occurs towards the end of the brew cycle after the bestof the essence of the already wet coffee grounds has already beenextracted.

Traditionally, French press coffee makers have only been manuallyoperated with the plunging action being performed manually and at a timethat is determined by the operator of the French press coffee maker.Should the operator become impatient, and activate the plunger too soon,then the coffee can be undesirably under-extracted. On the other hand,if the operator is distracted, and operates the plunger after the timeperiod for optimum uniform abstraction has passed, then the coffee maybe over-extracted. Making optimum operation even more difficult, theoptimum time period for extraction will vary with the amount of coffeegrounds that are placed in the container and with the amount of waterthat is added to the container into which the coffee is extracted,dissolved or mixed. In such case, the operator may not know the correcttiming and thereby fail to make the proper adjustment to the extractiontime to obtain optimum extraction.

Consequently, even though the French press coffee maker is capable ofproviding coffee that is optimally extracted for best quality withoutwaste of coffee grounds that are not extracted or coffee grounds thatare over-extracted, in actual practice, due to the manual nature of theoperation, such optimal extraction is not always obtained.

Another problem with traditional French press coffee makers is thatbecause they are manually operated and require the operator to manuallyremove the freshly made scolding hot coffee from the container, forsafety reasons, the French press coffee makers have been substantiallylimited to making only one or, at most, two cups of coffee at a time.Thus, the French press technique of making coffee has not hadapplication in commercial coffee makers in which greater quantities ofcoffee, such one half gallon to five gallons, are made during a singlebrew cycle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a methodof brewing a beverage, such as coffee, in an automatic, electricbeverage maker that enables brewing coffee with uniform extraction andhaving the same quality as coffee made with a French press coffee makerbut which overcomes the disadvantages of non-automatic operation and oflimited batch size.

This objective is partly achieved by providing a method of brewing abeverage in an electrical automatic beverage brewer by performing thesteps of mixing water with a dry beverage ingredient to make beverage ina rotatable mixing chamber assembly having a rotatable mixing chamberwith a closed top and an open bottom; installing a filter into a brewbasket with an open top and a bottom with a drain hole; inserting apreselected amount of beverage ingredient into the brew basket andsupported on the filter; mounting the brew basket to the mixing chamberwith the open top of the brew basket pressed against the open bottom ofthe mixing chamber; rotating the mixing chamber to an upside downposition with the closed bottom beneath the open top and brew basket todump the ingredient out of the filter and brew basket onto the closedtop of the mixing chamber; injecting a preselected quantity of waterinto the mixing chamber sufficient to make at least several individualservings of beverage to create a mixture of water and ingredient; afterlapse of a preselected seeping time period, rotating the mixing chamberto an upright position with the closed top above the open bottom to pourthe mixture onto the filter; and passing the beverage through the filterand out of the drain hole into a beverage dispenser capable of holdingat least several individual servings of beverage.

Preferably, the step of injecting water into the mixing chamber includesthe step of injecting water into the mixing chamber to a level beneaththe open top of the mixing chamber, and the steps of rotating the mixingchamber to an upside down position, injecting water into the mixingchamber, rotating the mixing chamber to an upright position andinjecting pressurized air into the mixing chamber are all performedautomatically according to a preselected timing sequence in response tooperation of a controller.

The method also preferably includes the step of injecting pressurizedgas into the mixing chamber after the step of rotating the mixingchamber to an upright position to hasten the passage of beverage throughthe filter and out of the drain hole. The step of injecting pressurizedgas into the mixing chamber includes the steps of pressurizing a gascompressor tank to a preselected pressure by operating an electric airpump, and actuating a solenoid controlled gas valve connected betweenthe gas compressor tank and the mixing chamber for a preselected amountof time.

In the preferred embodiment, the step of mounting includes the step ofreleasably mounting the brew basket to the mixing chamber while pressingthe filter between a filter connection surface adjacent the open bottomof the mixing chamber and a filter connector surface adjacent the opentop of the filter basket when the filter basket is releasably mounted tothe mixing chamber. The brew basket has a double-walled constructionwith a solid, water impervious, outer wall and an inner wall that is atleast partly water pervious and separated from the inner wall by a gap,and the method includes the step of passing beverage that has beenpassed through the filter through the inner wall of the brew basket anddown along an interior surface of the outer wall in which the drain holeis formed. The step of inserting beverage ingredient in to the basket isperformed when the brew basket is detached and spaced from the mixingchamber, and the step of mounting the brew basket includes the step ofreleasably attaching the brew basket to the mixing chamber withreleasable mating connectors carried by the mixing chamber and the brewbasket.

The object of the invention is also achieved, in part, by provision of amethod of brewing beverage in an electrical automatic beverage brewer,by performance of the steps of mixing water with a dry beverageingredient inside a rotary mixing chamber mounted for rotation betweenan upright position and an upside down position when the chamber is inthe upside down position for a preselected seeping time periodautomatically determined by an electronic controller; after lapse of thepreselected seeping time period, automatically rotating the mixingchamber to the upright position; after the mixing chamber has beenrotated to the upright position automatically positively pressurizingthe mixing chamber to force beverage formed from the mixture downwardlyout of the mixing chamber, and through a filter and into a beveragecontainer.

Preferably, the mixing chamber has a closed top and an open bottom, andthe step of mixing includes the step of automatically injecting apreselected quantity of water into the mixing chamber in an amount inexcess of at least several individual servings of beverage to a levelthat is beneath the open bottom of the mixing chamber when the closedtop of the mixing chamber is beneath the open top. The mixing chamberhas a permanently closed top and an open bottom, and the method includesthe steps of inserting a preselected amount of beverage ingredient intoa brew basket, and after the step of inserting and before the step ofmixing, releasably mounting the brew basket to the open bottom, androtating the mixing chamber to the upside down position after the brewbasket has been releasably mounted to the open bottom and the beverageingredient has been inserted. A filter is installed into the brewbasket, an upper open end of the filter is automatically releasablysecured to the brew basket when the brew basket is releasably mounted tothe open bottom of the mixing chamber, and the filter is automaticallyreleased from attachment to the filter basket when the brew basket isdetached from the open bottom of the mixing chamber.

In the preferred embodiment the brew basket has a double walledconstruction with an inner water pervious wall and an outer waterimpervious wall, and the step of installing the filter includes thesteps of supporting the filter on the inner water pervious wall of thebrew basket when the beverage is forced through the filter. The beverageis passed through the inner water pervious wall after being forcedthrough the filter. The beverage then passes downwardly along the outerwall to a drain hole formed in the outer wall after the beverage isforced through the filter and before being passed into the container.The step of mixing includes the step of injecting water into the mixingchamber when the mixing chamber is in the upside down position.

Also, the object of the invention is achieved in part by providing amethod of brewing a beverage with an electrical, automatic, beveragebrewer, comprising the steps of mounting a brew basket with a filter anddry beverage ingredient and a drain hole to a mixing chamber for fluidcommunication with the mixing chamber through an open bottom of themixing chamber; automatically turning the brew basket upside down todump the dry beverage ingredient out of the filter and onto a closed topof the rotatable mixing chamber; automatically infusing a preselectedquantity of water into the rotatable mixing chamber to a level beneaththe open top and onto the dry beverage ingredient after the mixingchamber has been turned upside down; mixing the preselected quantity ofwater with the dry beverage ingredient within the mixing chamber for apreselected seeping period of time; automatically turning the mixingchamber and mounted brew basket right side up after lapse of thepreselected seeping time period; and pressuring the beverage through thefilter and out of the drain hole of the brew basket at least partly withthe force of gravity while filtering out undesolved elements of thebeverage ingredient.

The method preferably includes the step of automatically injectingpressurized air into the mixing chamber after the mixing chamber hasbeen turned right side up to assist the force of gravity pressuring thebeverage through the filter. This pressurizing step includes the stepsof pressurizing an air compressor tank with an air pump, and selectivelypassing pressurized air from the air compressor tank to the mixingchamber through an electronically controlled pneumatic valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Obtainment of the objects of the invention will be made apparent fromthe preferred embodiment of the rotatable beverage brewer of the presentinvention described in detail below with reference to the severalfigures of the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a preferred embodiment of therotatable beverage brewer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded sectional side view of an embodiment of therotatable mixing chamber functional block of FIG. 1 together with theassociated brew basket and filter element, or filter;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the brew basket of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the rotatable mixing chamber of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view of the rotatable mixing chamber, brewbasket and filter element of FIG. 1 in assembled relationship togetherwith a load of dry, ground coffee beans supported on top of the filter;

FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of the rotatable mixing chamber, brewbasket and filter element of FIG. 5 after the rotatable mixing chamberhas been rotated 180-degrees to dump the coffee previously containedwithin the filter onto the interior surface of the closed top of therotatable mixing chamber and after a valve has been opened to dispensewater into the rotatable mixing chamber at a relatively high rate at thebeginning of a water dispense period of the brew cycle;

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view of the rotatable mixing chamber of FIGS.1 and 2 after the rotatable mixing chamber has been rotated 180-degreesand the full amount of hot water has been added to the rotatable mixingchamber and is uniformly extracting the coffee flavor components duringa preselected seeping period of the brew cycle;

FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of the rotatable mixing chamber at theend of the seeping period and after the desired amount of mixing anduniform extraction has occurred and the rotatable mixing chamber hasbeen rotated back 180-degrees to its original upright position shown inFIG. 2, and pressurized air is being injected into the rotatable mixingchamber at the beginning of the discharge period to rapidly drain themixture out of the rotatable mixing chamber, through the filter and outof the drain hole at the bottom of the brew basket beforeover-extraction can occur;

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the rotatable mixing chamber and brewbasket after the discharge period has ended and all that remains withinthe brew basket are the wet depleted coffee grounds; and

FIG. 10 is a logic flow chart of the operations software employed in thecontroller of FIG. 1 for operating the pressurized rotatable brewer ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the best use of the beverage maker 10 is for makingfreshly brewed coffee from ground coffee beans. Accordingly, althoughthe beverage maker 10 may be employed to make other freshly brewedbeverages, such as tea, cocoa, etc., for purposes of brevity andsuccinctness the description of the beverage maker 10 that follows willassume that the beverage being made is coffee.

The rotatable beverage maker 10 of the present invention has a rotatablemixing chamber 12 with an open bottom 3 and a top 7. The open bottom 3has a bottom filter opening 15 to which the top 19 of a filter holding,conical, brew basket 14 is releasably attached to cover, or close, thebottom filter opening 15.

Before commencement of a brew cycle, the brew basket 14 is detached fromthe rotatable mixing chamber 12 and loaded with a quantity of groundcoffee appropriate for the batch size, or multi-serving amount, offreshly brewed beverage being made. Generally, more or less quantitiesof ground coffee grounds are added for greater or lesser quantities ofbrewed coffee to be made. Before loading of the conical brew basket 14,a filter 105, FIGS. 2 and 5, conforming to the conical shape of the brewbasket 14 is placed into, and supported by, the conical brew basket 14.The filter 105 may be a disposable, porous, conical, coffee filterpaper, a reusable mesh filter made of gold or the like, or both a paperfilter and a permanent filter combined. For purposes of simplicity, evenif the filter 105 is composed of both a paper and a permanent filter, itwill be referred to herein in the singular as the filter 105. The groundcoffee 108, FIG. 5, in turn, is supported by the filter 105. While aconical shape for the filter 105 is preferred, it should be appreciatedthat other shapes, such as frustoconical or cylindrical, may besuccessfully employed.

After the ground coffee 108 has been loaded on top of the filter 105,the brew basket 14 is reattached to the rotatable mixing chamber 12, asshown in FIG. 5. The peripheral edge 107 of the filter 105 isresiliently clamped, or squeezed, between a peripheral end wall 84 ofthe conical brew basket 14 and a truncated conical, filter connectioncollar 64 surrounding a bottom opening 66 of the rotatable mixingchamber 12. Accordingly, when the rotatable mixing chamber 12 isrotated, the filter 105 is held in place against the interior surface ofthe conical brew basket 14, as shown in FIG. 5.

Again referring to FIG. 1, an insulated dispenser 17 is especiallyadapted to closely fit with the brewer 10 for direct receipt of coffeefrom the brew basket 14 into and through an inlet at the top of thedispenser 17, with minimum exposure to air. Individual, generallycup-sized, servings of freshly brewed beverage are served from thedispenser via a manually operated faucet 27. The faucet 27 is located atthe bottom 3 of the dispenser 17 in the case of a regular dispenser andis located adjacent the closed top 7 in the case of an airpot dispenser.When located directly beneath the brew basket 14 in correct receivingposition, the dispenser 17 is sensed by a dispenser sensor 29. Thedispenser sensor may be magnetic sensor, a photo-sensor, a micro-switchor any other suitable sensor. The dispenser 17 is portable, and aftercompletion of a brew cycle may be removed to a serving location remotefrom the brewer 10. The details of the dispenser 17 and its spatialrelationship with the brewer 10 that enables direct brewing into thedispenser with minimum exposure to air and resultant heat loss do notform a part of this invention, and reference should be made to one ormore of U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,598, “Beverage Dispenser with Cover Assemblyand Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,452 “Air Pot Beverage Dispenser withFlow Through Lid and Display and Method”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,452“Method of Serving Freshly Brewed Beverage From a Dispenser”; and U.S.Pat. No. 6,135,009 “Brewing System with Dispenser Urn Loading Apparatusand Method”, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

All the components of the brewer 10 are contained within, or mounted to,a shared housing 21 that is supportable on a counter top 23 or the like.When the brew basket 14 is properly fastened to the rotatable mixingchamber 12, a magnetic, micro-switch or photo optical brew basket sensor25 indicates this presence to a computer-based controller 16. If thedispenser sensor 19 also indicates that the dispenser 17 is in place,and other conditions are satisfied, such as minimum water temperatureand level in the hot water tank 28, as described below with reference toFIG. 10, then under control of the computer based controller 16 and inresponse to manual actuation of a start brew switch (not shown) of acontrol panel 18, the rotatable mixing chamber is rotated 180-degrees.

This is achieved by the controller 16 actuating an electrical rotarymotor 18 that has a rotary drive gear 20 attached to a rotor of theelectric motor 18. The drive gear 20 is linked to a driven gear 22 thatis fixedly attached to the rotatable mixing chamber 12. The driven gearis centered about an axis of rotation 25 passing through the rotatablemixing chamber 12. A sensor 26 associated with the motor 18 indicates tothe controller when 180-degrees of rotation has been completed at whichtime the controller deactuates the motor 18. When the motor isdeactuated, the rotatable mixing chamber 12 is upside down with the brewbasket 14 and attached filter located above the rotatable mixing chamber12, as shown in FIG. 6.

As seen in FIG. 1, a hot water tank 28 is connected with an externalsource of water, such as from a public water utility, through a solenoidcontrolled, inlet fill valve 30 that is controlled by the controller 16.The hot water tank 28 contains a supply of hot water that is heated to apreselected hot temperature between approximately 195-degrees and205-degrees Fahrenheit by an electrical hot water heater 32 controlledby the controller 16. Other sensors 34 associated with the hot watertank 28 sense the temperature of the water in the tank 28 and the levelof the water in the tank 28 and provide corresponding information to thecontroller 16 to enable it to control the inlet fill valve 30 and theelectrical hot water heater 32. The controller 16 selectively opens theinlet fill valve 30 to maintain the water in the hot water tank 28 at apreselected level. An outlet 36 of the hot water tank 28 is connected tothe rotatable mixing chamber 12 through a solenoid controlled dispensevalve 38 and a water inlet, or inlet water connector, 40 that is alignedwith the axis of rotation 25. Alternatively, hot water is supplied viaan on demand hot water system in which a preselected amount of meteredcold water from a utility source is instantly heated to the desiredtemperature as it is supplied to the mixing chamber 12, as shown in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/248,194, filed Oct. 9, 2008, and entitled“Multi-Beverage Brewer with On-Demand Variable Brew Water Temperatureand Method”, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

A pressurized air inlet, or pneumatic connector, 42 is located onanother side of the rotatable mixing chamber 12 opposite from the waterinlet 40 which is also aligned with the axis of rotation 25. Thepressurized air inlet 42 is connected to an air compressor tank 44through a solenoid controlled pneumatic valve 46. The air pressure inthe compressor tank 44 is determined by the controller 16 selectivelyenergizing an electrical air pump 48. The electrical air pump 48 isconnected to the air compressor tank 44 through a solenoid controlledpneumatic valve 50. When the pneumatic valve 50 is opened, theelectrical air pump 48 is actuated to pump pressurized air into thecompressor tank 44 through the pressurized air inlet 42. The solenoidcontrolled pneumatic valve 50 and the air pump 48 are controlled by thecontroller 16 in response to signals from a pressure sensor 52 thatsenses the level of the air pressure within the air compressor tank 44.When the sensed pressure drops beneath a preselected minimum level, theair pump 48 is actuated and the solenoid controlled pneumatic valve 50is opened to increase the pressure to a preselected maximum pressure.When the sensed maximum pressure is reached, the pneumatic valve 50 isclosed and the air pump is deactuated. The pressure in the aircompressor tank 44 is thereby maintained between the preselected maximumand minimum pressure levels. While these maximum and minimum pressuresare preferred, it should be appreciated that other pressure levels maybe successfully employed. The greater the pressure injected into themixing chamber, the faster the beverage will be discharged from thechamber and thus the optimum pressure must be optimized throughexperimentation to obtain the best level of extraction.

After the rotatable mixing chamber 12 has been turned upside down, thecontroller 16 causes the solenoid controlled, water dispense valve 38 toopen for a preselected time to pass a preselected quantity of hot waterinto the rotatable mixing chamber 12. The preselected quantity maybe arelatively small amount but is never more than the amount that wouldcause the level of hot water in the rotatable mixing chamber 12 to riseabove the open bottom 3 and the top 19 of the brew basket 14 and thefilter 105.

When the rotatable mixing chamber 12 is first turned upside down, all ofthe ground coffee that was supported by and contained within the filter105 and conical brew basket 14 falls out of the filter 105 and is dumpedonto the closed top 7 of the inverted, rotatable mixing chamber 12, asbest seen in FIG. 6. When the water 109, FIG. 6, enters into therotatable mixing chamber 14, it falls on top of and percolates into thedry ground coffee 108, FIG. 6 to mix with the ground coffee to brew thecoffee beverage.

The uniform extraction into the hot water of the flavor elements,compounds and oils from the ground coffee then begins. The total desiredamount of hot water is promptly added to, or infused into, the rotatablemixing chamber 12, as shown in FIG. 7, The extraction is permitted tocontinue for a preselected, optimum, seeping time, mixing time, orextraction time. The optimum time is empirically determined based on thequantity, quality and type of coffee grounds, the quantity of water andthe temperature of the water. During the preselected mixing time, themotor 18 may be intermittently, temporarily actuated to slightly jog, orshake, the rotatable mixing chamber 12, preferably back and forth, toshake and agitate the water and coffee mixture to accelerate the mixingand extraction process. Again, the exact amount of such agitation mustbe determined empirically.

After the preselected optimum extraction time has passed, the rotatablemixing chamber 12 is quickly rotated back 180-degrees from the upsidedown position to its original upright position, as shown in FIG. 7, andthe pneumatic valve 46 is opened by the controller 16 to pressurize theinterior air space of the rotatable mixing chamber 12 located above thetop level of the mixture of the coffee grounds and the hot water withthe freshly brewed coffee, i.e. the hot water with the uniformlyextracted coffee components. This added pressure rapidly and forciblydischarges the freshly brewed coffee out though the filter 105 and outof a drain hole 90, FIG. 2. at the bottom of the conical brew basket 14.Generally, multiple serving-sized batches of the freshly brewed coffeeis drained into the mating insulated dispenser 17 that is especiallyadapted to fit with the brewer to limit heat loss. However, the breweris capable of making an individual sized serving and the coffee isdrained directly into an individual serving container, such as a cup, ifonly a single serving quantity is being made. The rapid, forcibledischarge of the coffee quickly terminates the extraction process andthereby prevents both over extraction. Under extraction is prevented bythe quick mixture of the entire quantity of water with the coffeegrounds

The details of the brewer elements of the brewer 10 of FIG. 1 includingthe hot water tank 28, the heater 32, the sensors 34, the inlet valve30, the dispense valve 38, the controller 16, and the control panel 18and other form no part of the present invention, except, and to theextent, they have been modified to perform the functions specifiedherein. Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,082 issued toLassota on Mar. 19, 1991 for “Beverage Maker and Method of MakingBeverage”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,885 issued to Lassota on Jul. 26, 1994for “Semiautomatic Beverage Maker and Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,944issued to Lassota on Aug. 31, 1999, for “Brewing System with Hot WaterUrn Flushing Apparatus”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,981 issued to Lassota onSep. 21, 1999; and patents cited therein, which are hereby incorporatedby reference, and the other patents cited herein for further informationconcerning such details.

Likewise, the details of the beverage dispenser 17 form no part of theinvention. If further information concerning the details of a beveragedispenser that may be used with the present invention, reference shouldbe made to one or more of U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,208 issued Mar. 16, 2004;U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,937 issued Aug. 19, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,507issued Sep. 26, 2004 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,253 issued Mar. 9, 2004;U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,598 issued Mar. 23, 2004, all issued to Zbigniew G.Lassota, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference, as well asthe other patents cited herein.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a preferred form of the rotatablemixing chamber 12 and brew basket 14 is described in detail. The body 50of the chamber 12 has a central axis of symmetry 52 with a generallyflat circular, closed top 7 joined to a cylindrical side 56 by anannular curved shoulder 58. The bottom of the cylindrical side 56 isjoined to an annular, thin, single-walled, bottom 60 by another annular,curved, bottom shoulder 62. Extending downwardly from the flat annularbottom 60 is a cylindrical neck 63 which is joined at its distal end toa truncated conical wall 64 that terminates in a circular opening 66.

Extending downwardly from the flat annular bottom 60 are two identical,brew basket attachment pins 68 and 70 that are located diametricallyopposite one another. Each of the attachment pins 68 and 70 has arelatively thin cylindrical shaft 72 with a distal end that terminateswith a flat circular pinhead 74. The pin head 74 has a diameter greaterthan that of the cylindrical shaft 72.

Preferably, the entire rotatable mixing chamber 12 is made fromthin-walled stainless steel, with the top closed top 7, the top shoulder58, the cylindrical side 56 and the bottom shoulder 62 having a doublewalled configuration with a gap 76. Preferably, the inner wall and outerwall are evacuated to provide vacuum insulation. Alternatively, the gap76 is filled with air or a suitable insulating material. In suchalternative case, the outer wall may be made from a suitable hardplastic or resin instead of stainless steel.

The brew basket 14 has a conical body with a lower section having adouble-walled conical construction and an upper section with a thin,single-walled construction. The lower section has an inner conical wall80 that serves as an integral filter support, or holder, and an outerconical wall 82 spaced from the inner conical wall by a gap 83. Theinner conical wall 80 and the outer conical wall 82 are secured togetherin spaced relationship by a thin, single walled cylindrical collar 86 attheir upper ends and by a cylindrical drain hole collar 88 at theirlower ends. The collar 88 surrounds and defines a circular drain hole 90at the bottom of the impervious, outer wall 82. The upper section of thebrew basket 14, above the collar 86 is formed by a water impervious,impermeable, solid, upper conical wall 84 that coincides with andconstitutes a continuation of the inner, pervious, conical wall 80. Theupper conical wall 84 functions as filter connection wall that mateswith the frustoconical filter connection collar 64 of the mixing chamber12. The outer conical wall 82 is water pervious and permeable. The outerconical wall is preferably formed by a plurality of uniformly spacedapart, radiating wires 87, as best seen in FIG. 4, but can also beformed by means of an array of holes formed in an otherwise solid wall.

When the mixture of water, beverage and coffee grounds are dumped ontothe filter 105 at the end of the seeping period, the grounds and otherparticulate matter suspended in the water are blocked from passage, butthe freshly brewed beverage passes the filter 105, through the waterpermeable, inner, conical wall 80 and onto the inner surface of theimpervious, outer conical wall 82. The beverage then flows down theinside of the outer conical wall 82 and passes out of the drain hole 90.Beverage passing out of the drain hole 90 flows directly into an inletof the dispenser 17 located closely adjacent to the drain hole tominimize exposure to air and resultant heat loss.

The brew basket 14 is releasably mounted to the bottom 3 of therotatable mixing chamber 12 in a position underlying the opening 66. Theupper filter connection wall 84 of the brew basket 14 is joined to acylindrical neck 92 from which extends, radially outwardly, an annularmounting collar 94. The mounting collar 94 has a pair of diametricallyopposed, identical, mounting slots 96 and 98, as best seen in FIG. 4. Asseen in FIG. 2, a pair of diametrically opposed, thin-walled, flat, handgrips or handles 100 and 102 extends downwardly from opposite sides ofthe outer wall 82 between the top of the inner permeable wall 80 and thebottom of the upper wall 84, to the cylindrical neck 88 surrounding thedrain hole 90. These handles 100 and 102 are preferably locatedrespectfully opposite the mating pin mounting slots 96 and 98. Theyfunction as handles for raising, lowering, turning and otherwisemanipulating the brew basket 14 during mounting and dismounting of thebrew basket 14 to the mixing chamber 12 while keeping the user's handsspaced from the drain hole 90 and the outer wall 82 that may become hotimmediately after a brew cycle.

During attachment of the brew basket 14 to the bottom of the rotatablemixing chamber 12, the brew basket 14 is held by the wings 100 and 102and raised toward the bottom of the rotatable mixing chamber. As seen inFIG. 4, the mounting slots 96 and 98 have relatively elongate, arcuateslot bodies 104 that terminate at one end in a relatively, enlarged,generally circular, pin head receiving openings 106. The width of theelongate slot bodies 104 is less than the diameter of the flat circularheads 74 of the mounting pins 68 and 70, but the diameters of therelatively enlarged openings 106 are larger than the circular heads 74.Accordingly, the enlarged openings 106 are aligned with the circularheads 74 and pushed upwardly past the pin heads 74 until the top of thecollar 94 is above the pin heads 74 and surrounding the shafts 72. Thenthe brew basket 14 is twisted, or rotated, to slide the shafts 72 alongthe relatively narrow slot bodies 104 until the shafts 72 abut the endsof the elongate slot bodies 104 opposite the relatively enlarged opening106 in a locked position.

Because the diameter of the heads 74 are greater than the widths of theelongate slot bodies 104, the heads lock collar 94 to the flat annularbottom 60 of the rotatable mixing chamber 12. The neck 92 of the brewbasket 14 fits snugly around the neck 63 of the rotatable mixing chamber12. Preferably, the slots are slightly, vertically canted or slanted sothat the sliding movement of the mounting pins 68 and 70 along theelongate slot bodies 104 during rotation of the brew basket 14 causesthe collar 94 to rise toward the flat annular bottom 60 for a tightresilient engagement with the bottom.

The filter 105, whether a disposable paper filter or a reusable filter,has a conical shape that is congruent with and substantially the same asthe conical shape of the inner, pervious, conical wall 80 and theimpervious filter connection wall 84. The filter connection wall 84 hasconical shape that is congruent with and substantially the same as theshape of the of the annular, truncated, conical, filter connectioncollar 64 of the rotatable mixing chamber 12. The brew basket 14 isfastened to the rotatable mixing chamber 12 after the filter 105 isfully inserted into and contained within the brew basket 14. The closedend and the body of the filter 105 is inserted into the brew basket 14and pressed against and supported by the inside of the inner, perviouswall 80, and the upper end 107 of the filter 105 overlaps and issupported by the aligned impervious, upper connection wall 84.Accordingly, when the brew basket 14 is snuggly, releasably attached tothe bottom of the rotatable mixing chamber 12, the top part 107 of thefilter 105 is squeezed between the upper filter connection wall 84 andthe annular, truncated, conical connection collar 64, as best seen inFIG. 5.

The first step in the brewing process is to load the brew basket byinserting a filter 105 into the brew basket 14 and then loading apreselected amount of ground coffee 108 onto the filter 105. This firststep is performed prior to the brew basket 14 being mounted to thebottom 3 of the mixing chamber. The second step is to manuallyreleasably attach the brew basket 14 to the bottom 3 of the mixingchamber 12, as shown in FIG. 5. As seen, the brew basket 14 is mountedto the open bottom 3 of the mixing chamber 12 with the filter 105contained within the brew basket 14. The top part 107 of the filter 105is squeezed between the connection wall 84 and the connection collar 64,and a layer of coffee grounds 108 is contained within and supported bythe body of the filter 105.

Once selections have been made for the quantity of beverage to be made,the brewer 10 is in condition for the beginning of a new brew cycle whena start brew switch is manually actuated. In the third step the startbrew switch is actuated. In the fourth step, in response to actuation ofthe start switch, the controller 16 causes energization of the motor 26which drives the rotatable mixing chamber 12 to rotate until it isupside down. This causes all of the ground coffee to fall out of thefilter 105 and onto the inside surface of the top 7 of the mixingchamber 14. FIG. 6 shows the rotatable mixing chamber 12 and the brewbasket 14 after the rotatable mixing chamber has been turned upside downand the dry ground coffee has been dumped onto the interior surface ofthe closed top 7.

As soon as this has occurred, in the fifth step, the hot water dispensevalve 38 is opened for a preselected time period to dispense, or inject,at a high flow rate a preselected amount of hot water 109 from the hotwater tank 28 into the rotatable mixing chamber 12. This occurs at thebeginning of the water infusion, or water dispense, period of the brewcycle. Preferably, the injection of the hot water is at a sufficientlyhigh flow rate to cause agitation, separation and movement off first thedry ground coffee and then the incomplete mixture of coffee grounds andhot water and resultant extracted beverage.

After the entire amount of the preselected amount of hot water has beeninfused into the upside down mixing chamber 12, the sixth step ofseeping, or allowing the coffee and water mixture to soak. During thistime, the motor may be momentarily energized with alternative polaritiesto shake, or jog, the mixing chamber back and forth by a few degrees toagitate the coffee mixture and thereby speed the mixing and extractionprocess. In FIG. 7, the rotatable mixing chamber 12 is seen after it hasbeen filled with the entire desired amount of hot water through the hotwater valve 38 and the water inlet 40. The addition of the hot water tothe ground coffee creates a wet mixture or slurry 110 of hot water mixedwith the ground coffee 108 and resultant beverage. The extraction whichbegan with the relatively high speed injection of hot water continuesfor a preselected amount of seeping time after all the water has beenadded.

While any lesser amounts of water and coffee grounds may be used, thetotal amount of hot water 109 injected plus the total amount of groundcoffee 108 are always selected to insure that top level 112 of themixture 110 is always beneath the level 113 of the top of the perviousinner wall 80 and preferably beneath the bottom opening 66 to insurethat the water-coffee ground mixture, or beverage, does not flow outthough the filter 106 or the drain hole 90. Because the filter 106 issqueezed between the truncated conical connection collar 64 and theupper connection part 84 of the inner conical wall 80, the filter 105 isheld in an elevated position and has sufficient structural integrity,the filter 105 does not drop or droop into the mixture 110 when therotatable mixing chamber 12 and brew basket 14 are turned upside down,as shown in FIG. 7.

After a preselected seeping time period has passed, depending upon theamount of beverage being made, the type of coffee, the temperature ofthe water, etc., the seventh step of the brewing process is commenced bystarting the discharge period when the rotatable mixing chamber 12 hasbeen returned to the upright position. This discharge period isautomatically commenced by the controller 16. FIG. 8 shows the rotatablemixing chamber 12 with the mixture 110 contained within the chamberimmediately at the start of the discharge period. At this time theentire quantity of brewed beverage is pressing down upon the filter 105and rapidly passes through the filter 105, through the water perviouswall 80, down the side of the outer water impervious wall 82 and out ofthe drain hole 90 and into the dispenser 17.

Preferably, and as soon as the mixing chamber has been turned upright,the eighth step begins when the controller 16 causes the pneumatic valve46 to automatically open to release pressurized air 115 into therotatable mixing chamber 12. to speed the discharge of beverage throughthe filter 105 and out of the drain hole 90. If the level 112 of thewater and coffee grounds mixture 110 is above the air inlet 42, asshown, then the air 115 rises through the mixture 110 into the space 114located above the level 112 and beneath the top 7 above the innersurface 116 of the top 7. This rising of the air through the mixturefacilitates agitation and mixing. If the level 112 is beneath the inlet42, then the pressurized air 115 directly enters the space 114 above thelevel 112 of the mixture 110.

In either event, the affect of the relatively high pressure air 115entering into the space 114 is to create air pressure within the space114 that presses down on the surface 112 of the mixture 110 to hastenthe passage of the liquid elements and small particulates of the mixture110 to pass through the filter 105, down the inside of the outer wall82, out of the drain hole 90 and into the dispenser 17. The greater thepressure in the space 114, the faster the liquid portion of the mixture,i.e. the freshly brewed coffee, will exit the rotatable mixing chamber12 and the brew basket 14.

The force of gravity, i.e. the weight of the coffee grounds and watermixture 110 also functions to force the liquid portion of the mixture110 through the filter 105 and out of the drain hole 90. In a drip-typecoffee brewer the hot water is gradually added to the top of the brewbasket while beverage simultaneously flows out of the bottom, such thatthe full amount of water that is added is never all contained in thebrew basket at any one time. However, in accordance with the presentinvention, the force of gravity is maximized because the full quantityof hot water that is to be dispensed is present all at one time beforethe discharge period. The higher the level 112 of the mixture 110 at thebeginning of the discharge period, the greater will be the head pressureand the amount that the discharge rate is enhanced by gravity. When therotatable mixing chamber is returned to the upright position, the entireamount of water 109 being used to make the particular quantity ofbeverage has already been added, and thus the force of gravity is moresuccessfully employed for maximum drainage rate at beginning of thedischarge or drain period of the brew cycle.

FIG. 9 shows the rotatable mixing chamber 12 and brew basket 14 at ornear the end of the discharge period, after substantially all thebeverage has been discharged through the drain hole 90. At this time,all that remains in the filter are the depleted, wet coffee grounds. Thebrew basket 14 may then be removed and the grounds disposed. If thefilter 106 is a disposable paper filter, then it also is disposed withthe depleted coffee grounds. Otherwise, the filter is removed andcleaned for reuse. The next brew cycle is begun by inserting a cleanfilter with fresh, dry ground coffee and reattaching the brew basket 14to the rotatable mixing chamber 12 and repeating the brew cycles steps,as describe above.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 10, the controller 16 has a computer with adata memory for temporarily storing optional selections made by theoperator, such as batch quantity, coffee type and strength, which areassociated with different parameters of water dispense time, seepingtime duration and discharge time that have been previously empiricallydetermined and stored in a parameters memory, preferably in a look-uptable. Other parameters that may be selectively stored include watertemperature, level of air pressure, water level, the selective provisionof various status indicators and messages on a suitable electronicdisplay, etc. In addition a software memory contains operationalsoftware that draws on the optional selections and associated parametersto control the various operational elements of the brewer 10. Although,not shown in FIG. 1, in addition to the computer, the controller hassuitable interface circuits to enable the outputs of the computer tocontrol the various elements of the brewer 10 and to receive inputs fromthe various sensors. Preferably, the controller operates in accordancewith the logic flow chart illustrated in FIG. 10 and described below.

Referring to FIG. 10, after start of the program at step 120, in step122, it is determined whether the program has been activated to be inthe program mode during which the various parameters needed forautomatic operation have been entered into storage in the parametersmemory. If the program is in the program mode, then the program operatesin the program mode in step 124. In step 126, if it is determined thatthe program mode has been terminated, then the program proceeds to step128 which begins a serious of steps to determine whether the brewer 10is ready to begin a new brew cycle.

In step 128, the computer determines, based on inputs from thetemperature and level sensing sensors 34 of FIG. 1, whether the watertemperature and the water temperature are at the preselected valuesstored in the parameters memory. Preferably, the water level is kept ata fixed level so that the rate of drainage of the hot water tank 28 whenthe water dispense valve 30 is opened remains substantially fixed sothat the quantity of water dispensed into the rotatable mixing chamber12 may be determined based on the duration of the dispense period.Alternatively, a flow meter is employed to determine the total quantityof water dispensed into the rotatable mixing chamber 12 and the waterlevel and dispense time may vary. In such case, instead of a hot watertank, an on-demand heating element is used to rapidly heat the meteredwater to the desired temperature as shown in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/248,194 filed Oct. 9, 2008 of Michael W. Lassota et al.,entitled “Multi-Beverage Brewer with On-Demand Variable Brew WaterTemperature and Method”, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Also, with both a hot water tank and an on-demand heating element, thetemperature may be generally fixed in the hot water tank 28 but theninstantly increased as desired for different coffee types of coffee orother conditions through use of an inline instantaneous heating elementlocated between the dispense valve 38 and the rotatable mixing chamber12 or in the line between the hot water tank and the dispense valve 38.

If the temperature and water levels are acceptable, then in step 130 itis determined in response to the sensors 25 and 19 whether the brewbasket 14 is locked in place and the dispenser 17 is in place to receivebeverage from the brew basket to avoid the safety hazard of starting abrew cycle without the presence of either the brew basket 14 or thedispenser in the proper location. It is assumed that if the brew basketis in place, then the operator has placed the filter 106 and the desiredquantity of ground coffee into the brew basket 14. If all is ready, thenthe program proceeds to step 132.

In step 132, it is determined from the sensor 45 whether the pressure inthe air compressor tank 44 is sufficient. If so, the in step 134 a readyto brew indicator light or other indicator is actuated to indicate tothe operator that he may commence a new brew cycle. In step 136, if thebrew start switch is manually actuated, the program proceeds to step 138to deactuate the ready to brew indicator and to step 140 to actuate abrew cycle in process indicator. These indications are provided at thecontrol panel 18 where also are located the start brew switch, a displayand other standard features of a coffee brewer control panel, such asshown and described in the patents cited above. The program thenproceeds to step 142 to actuate the motor 18 to invert the rotatablemixing chamber 14, and after the inversion has been completed, asindicated by the sensor 26. In the next step 144 the water dispensevalve 38 is opened to commence the dispense period during which thepreselected quantity of hot water is dispensed, or injected, into therotatable mixing chamber 12.

Once it is determined that the preselected dispense time period haselapsed I step 146, in step 148, the water dispense valve is closed toend the dispense period of the brew cycle. The rotatable mixing chambermay then be agitated in step 150 by jogging the motor 18 or by use ofsome other mechanical means for shaking the rotatable mixing chamber tospeed the mixing of the hot water with the ground coffee. Alternatively,the agitation may commence immediately after the water dispenser valveis opened in step 144.

The mixture of hot water and ground coffee is then allowed to seep,either with or without agitation, for a preselected seeping time periodof the brew cycle, and if the seeping has been with agitation, when itis determined in step 152 that the preselected seeping time period haslapsed, the agitation is ended in step 117. As soon as the seep, orseeping, period has ended and any agitation has terminated, in step 156,the motor 26 is again energized to rotate the rotatable mixing chamber180-degrees to return the rotatable mixing chamber 12 to the uprightposition with the filter and brew basket 14 beneath the rotatable mixingchamber. As soon as this occurs, in step 158, the pneumatic valve 46 isopened to inject pressurized air into the rotatable mixing chamber 12.If this lowers the pressure in the air compressor tank 44 beneath apreselected level as indicated by the sensor 45, then in step 160, theelectric air pump 48 is actuated to repressurize the air compressor tank44.

In step 162, once it is determined that a preselected discharge timeperiod of the brew cycle has lapsed and all the beverage has beendischarged out of the drain hole 90 of the brew basket 14 and into thedispenser 17, the pneumatic valve 46 is closed, in step 164.Alternatively, a sensor is employed to detect when no more beverage iscoming out of the drain hole 90, and the valve 46 is closed when thisoccurs with closure occurring regardless of detection after somepreselected maximum discharge time period.

After the pneumatic valve 164 is closed, in step 166 a brew in processindicator is deactuated and the program moves to step 168. In step 168,a determination is made in response to the sensor 25 as to whether thebrew basket has been removed in order to remove the filter paper orother filter and the depleted wet coffee ground so that the brew basketmay be reloaded with a new filter and fresh dry ground coffee. If thebrew basket is not removed, a remove brew basket indicator is actuatedin step 170, and if the brew basket is removed, the remove brew basketindication is terminated and an install brew basket indicator isactuated, in step 172. The program then returns to start 120.

While a particular embodiment has been disclosed in detail, it should beappreciated that many obvious changes may be made without departing fromthe basic concept of the invention of using air pressure to rapidlydischarge a mixture of coffee grounds from a rotatable mixing chamberbefore the coffee grounds can be over extracted and to avoid underextraction to obtain uniform abstraction in an automated brewer capableof making large batches of freshly brewed coffee of a few or moregallons or as small an amount as a single serving of only severalounces. While the portable mixing chamber is mounted for rotation aboutaxles aligned with the axis of rotation, it should be appreciated thatthe rotatable mixing chamber could be held by other means for rotationabout the rotary axis. While the inner wall of the brew basket is formedof plurality of uniformly spaced apart wires, it could also be formed ofa wall that is perforated with a plurality of holes. While the inner,water pervious wall of the filter basket eliminates the need for aseparate pervious filter holder, it should be appreciated that aseparate pervious filter holder that is releasably connected butremovable from the filter basket could be used in lieu of the integral,water pervious inner wall. Also, while it is preferred that all of thebrewing steps after actuation of the start brew switch are performedautomatically, the invention could still be successfully employed bymanually rotating the mixing chamber at the appropriate times and thejogging of the mixing chamber could also be performed manually, byproviding a hand crank in lieu of the motor driven drive gear. Referenceshould therefore be made to the appended claims for the full scope ofthe invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of brewing a beverage in anelectrical automatic beverage brewer, comprising the steps of: providinga rotatable mixing chamber assembly having a rotatable mounted mixingchamber with a closed top and an open bottom located beneath the closedtop when in an upright position, installing a filter into a brew basketwith an open top and a bottom with a drain hole; inserting a preselectedamount of a beverage ingredient into the brew basket and supported onthe filter; mounting the brew basket to the mixing chamber with the opentop of the brew basket pressed against the open bottom of the mixingchamber; automatically rotating the mixing chamber to an upside downposition with the closed top of the mixing chamber beneath the openbottom of the mixing chamber and the brew basket to dump the ingredientout of the filter and the brew basket onto the closed top of the mixingchamber; automatically injecting a preselected quantity of water intothe mixing chamber sufficient to make at least a plurality of individualservings of beverage made of a mixture of the water and the ingredient;after lapse of a preselected seeping time period, automatically rotatingthe mixing chamber back to an upright position with the closed top abovethe open bottom to pour the mixture onto the filter; and passing thebeverage through the filter and out of the drain hole into a beveragedispenser capable of holding at least several individual servings ofbeverage.
 2. The brewing method of claim 1 in which the step ofinjecting water into the mixing chamber includes the step of injectingwater into the mixing chamber to a level beneath the open bottom of themixing chamber while the mixing chamber is in the upside down position.3. The beverage brewing method of claim 1 in which the steps of rotatingthe mixing chamber to an upside down position, injecting water into themixing chamber, rotating the mixing chamber to an upright position andinjecting pressurized air into the mixing chamber are all performedautomatically according to a preselected timing sequence in response tooperation of a controller.
 4. The beverage brewing method of claim 1including the step of injecting pressurized gas into the mixing chamberafter the step of rotating the mixing chamber to an upright position tohasten the passage of beverage through the filter and out of the drainhole.
 5. The beverage brewing method of claim 4 in which the step ofinjecting pressurized gas into the mixing chamber includes the steps ofpressurizing a gas compressor tank to a preselected pressure byoperating an electric air pump, and actuating a solenoid controlled gasvalve connected between the gas compressor tank and the mixing chamberfor a preselected amount of time.
 6. The beverage brewing method ofclaim 1 including the step of pressing the filter between a filterconnection surface adjacent the open bottom of the mixing chamber and afilter connector surface adjacent the open top of the filter basket whenthe filter basket is releasably mounted to the mixing chamber.
 7. Thebeverage brewing method of claim 1 in which the step of insertingbeverage ingredient into the basket is performed when the brew basket isdetached and spaced from the mixing chamber, and the step of mountingthe brew basket includes the step of releasably attaching the brewbasket to the mixing chamber with releasable mating connectors carriedby the mixing chamber and the brew basket.
 8. A method of brewingbeverage in an electrical automatic beverage brewer, comprising thesteps of: mixing water with a dry beverage ingredient inside a rotarymixing chamber mounted for automatic rotation from an upside downposition to an upright position after the chamber has been in the upsidedown position for a preselected seeping time period automaticallydetermined by an electronic controller; after lapse of the preselectedseeping time period, automatically rotating the mixing chamber back tothe upright position; after the mixing chamber has been automaticallyrotated to the upright position, automatically positively pressurizingthe mixing chamber to force beverage formed from the mixture downwardlyout of the mixing chamber, and through a filter and into a beveragecontainer.
 9. The beverage brewing method of claim 8 in which the stepof pressurizing includes the step of passing pressurized air from asource without the mixing chamber through the mixture and into a volumewithin the mixing chamber located above the mixture.
 10. The beveragebrewing method of claim 8 in which the step of pressurizing includes thestep of automatically actuating an air pump in response to an electroniccontroller.
 11. The beverage brewing method of claim 8 in which the stepof pressurizing includes the step of automatically opening anelectronically controllable valve to connect a source of pressurized airto the interior of the mixing chamber.
 12. The beverage brewing methodof claim 8 in which the mixing chamber has a closed top and an openbottom, and the step of mixing includes the step of automaticallyinjecting a preselected quantity of water into the mixing chamber in anamount in excess of at least a plurality of individual servings ofbeverage to a level that is beneath the open bottom of the mixingchamber when the closed top of the mixing chamber is beneath the openbottom.
 13. The beverage brewing method of claim 8 in which the mixingchamber has a permanently closed top and an open bottom, and includingthe steps of inserting a preselected amount of beverage ingredient intoa brew basket, and after the step of inserting and before the step ofmixing, releasably mounting the brew basket to the open bottom, androtating the mixing chamber to the upside down position after the brewbasket has been releasably mounted to the open bottom and the beverageingredient has been inserted.
 14. The beverage brewing method of claim13 including the steps of installing a filter into the brew basket,automatically releasably securing an upper open end of the filter to thebrew basket when the brew basket is releasably mounted to the openbottom of the mixing chamber, and automatically releasing the filterfrom attachment to the filter basket when the brew basket is detachedfrom the open bottom of the mixing chamber.
 15. The beverage brewingmethod of claim 14 in which the brew basket has a double walledconstruction with an inner water pervious wall and an outer waterimpervious wall, and the step of installing the filter includes the stepof supporting the filter on the inner water pervious wall of the brewbasket when the beverage is forced through the filter.
 16. The beveragebrewing method of claim 15 including the step of passing the beveragethrough the inner water pervious wall after being forced through thefilter.
 17. The beverage brewing method of claim 16 including the stepof passing the beverage downwardly along the outer wall to a drain holeformed in the outer wall after the beverage is forced through the filterand before being passed into the container.
 18. The beverage brewingmethod of claim 8 in which the step of mixing includes the step ofinjecting water into the mixing chamber when the mixing chamber is inthe upside down position.
 19. A method of automatically brewing abeverage with an electrical, automatic, beverage brewer, comprising thesteps of: mounting a brew basket with dry beverage ingredient supportedwithin a filter and a drain hole to an open bottom of a rotatable mixingchamber for fluid communication with the mixing chamber through the openbottom of the mixing chamber; automatically turning the rotatable mixingchamber with the brew basket upside down to dump the dry beverageingredient out of the filter and onto a closed top of the rotatablemixing chamber; automatically infusing a preselected quantity of waterinto the rotatable mixing chamber to a level beneath the open bottom ofthe mixing chamber and onto the thy beverage ingredient after the mixingchamber has been turned upside down; mixing the preselected quantity ofwater with the dry beverage ingredient within the mixing chamber for apreselected seeping period of time; and automatically turning the mixingchamber and mounted brew basket right side up after lapse of thepreselected seeping time period; and automatically pressuring thebeverage through the filter and out of the drain hole of the brew basketat least partly with the force of gravity while filtering out dissolvedelements of the beverage ingredient.
 20. The brewing method of claim 19including the step of automatically injecting pressurized air into themixing chamber after the mixing chamber has been turned right side up toassist the force of gravity pressuring the beverage through the filter.21. The brewing method of 21 in which the step of automaticallyinjecting pressurized air includes the steps of pressurizing an aircompressor tank with an air pump, and selectively passing pressurizedair from the air compressor tank to the mixing chamber through anelectronically controlled pneumatic valve.
 22. The brewing method ofclaim 20 in which the step of pressurizing includes the step ofinjecting pressurized air into the mixing chamber for a preselectedamount of time.
 23. The brewing method of claim 22 in which the step ofpressurizing includes the step of pressurizing the mixing chamber for apreselected amount of time that is greater for greater amounts ofbeverage being brewed than another preselected amount of time whenlesser amounts of beverage are being brewed.
 24. The brewing method ofclaim 20 in which the step of injecting pressurized air includes thestep of injecting the pressurized air into the beverage in the beverageto agitate the beverage to hasten mixing during the preselected seepingtime period.
 25. The brewing method of claim 19 in which the brew basketincludes a water pervious filter holder within the brew basket, andincluding the step of passing the beverage through the filter holder.26. The brewing method of claim 23 in which the filter holder is anonremovable permanent part of the brew basket.
 27. The brewing methodof claim 19 in which the brew basket has an outer solid wall with anopen top and a bottom at which the drain hole is located, and includingthe step of supporting a filter on a water pervious inner wall of thefilter holder permanently joined to the outer, solid, water imperviouswall in spaced relationship.
 28. The brewing method of claim 19 in whichthe brew basket includes a filter connection wall that is a waterimpervious extension of the inner wall and surrounds an open top of thebrew basket, and the rotatable mixing chamber has a downwardly extendingfilter connector wall for mating connection with the filter connectionwall with an edge of a filter held between the filter connection walland the filter connector wall, and including the step of resiliently,releasably mounting the brew basket filter to the mixing chamber withthe connection wall resiliently pressing against the filter connectorwall with a filter being resiliently squeezed between the filterconnection wall and the filter connector wall.
 29. The brewing method ofclaim 28 in which the step of resiliently, releasably mounting the brewbasket mounting includes the step of mating at least a pair of mountingpins carried by one of the brew basket and the rotatable mixing chamberwith at least a pair of mounting slots within which the pins arereceived carried by another one of the brew basket and the rotatablemixing chamber.
 30. The brewing method of claim 19 in which the step ofmixing includes the step of mixing a plurality of individual servings ofbeverage beneath the open bottom when the mixing chamber is turnedupside down.
 31. The brewing method of claim 19 including the step ofinsulating the mixing chamber with a double-walled construction havingan evacuated insulating gap.
 32. The brewing method of claim 19 in whichthe step of infusing includes the step selectively infusing water from asource of water into the mixing chamber through a water input connectorand a solenoid controlled valve.
 33. The brewing method of claim 32 inwhich the mixing chamber has a pair of opposite sides and the pneumaticinput connector and the water input connector are located on oppositeones of the pair of opposite sides and aligned with a axis of rotationof the rotary mixing chamber.
 34. The brewing method of claim 33 inwhich the steps of automatically turning includes the step of mountingthe mixing chamber for rotation on a pair of aligned axle stubs locatedon opposite sides of the mixing chamber.
 35. The brewing method of claim34 in which the steps of turning the mixing chamber includes the stepsof selectively controlling applying electrical power to anelectromechanical rotary drive apparatus mechanically linking theelectromechanical drive apparatus to one of the axle stubs.
 36. Thebrewing method of claim 35 in which the electromechanical driveapparatus is a reversible electrical motor, or, and the step of turningincludes automatically selectively controlling electrical power to thereversible electrical motor with one polarity when driving the mixingchamber to turn upside down, and automatically selectively applyingpower to the reversible electrical motor with another polarity oppositeto the one polarity then turning the mixing chamber right side up.